


Deja Vu

by Magical_Alpha



Category: Night In The Woods (Video Game)
Genre: Dialogue Heavy, During Canon, Gen, Retelling, Time Loop, Weird Plot Shit, like jesus h this is a lot of dialogue, like really dialogue heavy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-13 20:10:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28783974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magical_Alpha/pseuds/Magical_Alpha
Summary: Mae comes home from college. But... Why does everything feel so familiar? Like this has all happened before...? As the days go on in Possum Springs and Mae and co. find themselves in more danger, her memories become more vivid.Temporary Note: This fic is being put on hiatus until Stranger Winter is complete.
Relationships: Angus Delaney/Greggory Lee
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	1. Home Again

... " Well, this is great. I mean I didn't expect a party or anything, but I figured _someone_ would be here."  
Inside of a small bus station stood a lone feline sporting very dark blue fur, an orange long-sleeved shirt with a null symbol on the front and greyish pants. She had recently gotten off the bus to her home town of Possum Springs, as evidenced by the large painting reading 'Historical Possum Springs - Est. 1795.' She was almost all alone in this building, accompanied only by the old tall bird man who seemed to be using a power drill on the exit doorway.  
"... Welcome home, Mae," the cat said aloud.  
Since it was obvious that no one was in a rush to get her home, Mae looked around. There was a payphone within the station, but the phone itself seemed to have been ripped off the cord. "Geez. Who steals a payphone??" the cat wondered. "Would've been nice to call home, but nooooo, some jerkhole had to steal it." Besides the phone, there was a vending machine for the Fiascola brand of soda, with the front displaying a red fox in sleek black attire and sunglasses. A smile came to Mae's face as she looked at this fox mascot. "Fiasco Fox, you are too dreamy..." she uttered.  
Besides the big, misleading painting on the wall and the TV showing the Garbo & Malloy show, there wasn't much else of interest here. And there still wasn't anyone to pick her up from here. May as well strike up a conversation with the avian mechanic fixing the door.  
"Excuse me, where is everyone?" Mae asked the older bird.  
"It's 10:45. It's closed. Not a lot of folks getting off the last bus to Possum Springs these days," the man explained, "Just you."  
"... Isn't there supposed to be someone at the desk?"  
"Closed."  
"Why are the lights on? Why's the TV on?"  
"I get spooked when I'm here by my lonesome."  
"Oh." This was interesting and all, but Mae really needed to head out and make her way home. "Can I squeeze past you?"  
"Nope. Just broke the damn thing," the bird answered.  
"When do you think it might be done?"  
"Right after you grab me a Fiascola from the machine."  
"... Am I paying for this?"  
"I always rig it when I'm here after hours."  
Mae smiled. "Nice. Free as in free?"  
"Free as in there's no one here to say otherwise," the bird replied.

Mae turned and made her way back toward the vending machine. Without needing to insert any change, she tapped the button to get a Fiascola. With a little jingle, the machine dispensed the aluminum can of soda, which Mae promptly grabbed and got back to the mechanic with. Why does it feel like she's done this before...? Eh, whatever. The cat handed the can over. "One Freeasscola," she announced as the bird took the can before drilling a hole at the bottom with his power drill, taking a sip from it.  
"Yummers," he said in response. "So, what are you doing here?"  
"I live here," Mae stated matter-of-factly. "Well, lived here."  
"Huh. Strange."  
"When do you think that door's gonna be finished?" the cat asked, a tinge of impatience in her voice.  
...  
"Now," the bird answered. "Goodbye." With that, he started his way out, but stopped as he was in the doorway. "Oh, and if you find your way back here again, try not to forget," he said before leaving the station. This left Mae with an eyebrow raised before she left the station herself.  
The feline walked out into the chilly outdoors. It felt pretty good to be in the open air again after being in that bus for so long. She was right outside town, with her parents nowhere to be found. "Guess I'm walking," Mae concided. "Alone." She began her way towards town proper, jumping over fences and visiting an old playground she used to visit as a kid. She used the logs of the playground to hop onto a tree, which she then utilized to jump onto a power line to get over another fence. When she got over said fence, her only way to progress was to jump down.  
She made the jump, but didn't exactly nail the landing. She stumbled down onto her front with a groan, and almost immediately after found herself with a flashlight shone right on her.  
"Hello, Mae. Been a while." It was an older female cat with similarly dark blue fur and red eyes. She was dressed in a police uniform, with her cop car parked not too far away. It was Mae's aunt Molly, or 'Mall Cop' as the younger feline would tend to call her.  
"Hey. What are you doing here? Nothing better to do?" Mae asked, looking up at her aunt.  
"I was doing my rounds when I noticed you in the very off-limits playground."  
"So?" Mae was never the most lawful feline on the face of the planet, especially as she grew up. This in conjunction with the fact that her aunt was a police officer has created a nearly tangible tension between the two for the longest time.  
Molly put a hand on her hip, "Get in the car, Mae."  
"No," the younger one replied sharply.  
"You want to spend your first night back in jail, Mae?"  
"... No," Mae answered begrudgingly.

After an awkward and silent drive home, Mae exited her aunt's car without so much as a goodbye and made her way up to her house as the police car went off elsewhere. Where Molly was going, Mae could not give less of a care about. The younger cat opened the front door and walked into the living room, seeing an older male cat with lighter, less saturated blue fur sitting on the couch. He seemed to be asleep right there on the cushion. "Hey! Remember me?" Mae called out, jolting her father awake.  
"Aaaah!" Her dad yelled, spotting who had woke him up. "Mae! You gave me a heart attack!"  
"Good!" Mae replied, her arms outstretched downward.  
"What are you doing--" It was just then that the older of the two had a sudden realization. "... Ohhhh... Mae honey, we thought you were coming home tomorrow night."  
"Well, you thought wrong!" Mae stated, now with her arms up higher.  
"How did you get here?"  
"I walked until I got arrested by Aunt Mall-Cop."  
"Oh, did you say hi to Molly for me?"  
"No! I say hi for no one! Eff the cops! I'm going to bed!" the younger one declared. "... My bed's still here, right?" For some odd reason she had a strong feeling it was, but was just making sure.  
"Ah Mae, so good to hear that voice again," her dad said in earnest.  
"Goodnight!" Mae threw her hands up again. With that, she headed upstairs, fishing a journal out of her pockets in the process and drawing a sketch of her father. As she got up to the attic, which had been repurposed as her room, she wasted no time flopping onto her futon. With a quick flick of her boots off her feet, she got comfortable under her covers as sleep took her.

Her little bed felt better than any dorm room bed could wish to feel.


	2. Back to the Holler

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mae's first full day back in Possum Springs. She meets up with some good friends and catches up with them. Everything seems normal until the band finds something very out of the ordinary on the ground...

The sun shone through Mae's attic window, basking the room with warm sunlight. The feline awoke, sitting up before reaching for her boots to put on. Afterwards, she got a good look at the interior of her attic-bedroom. A lot of the things that she saw were from when she was a teenager, including posters for some metal artists like Witch Dagger or Sacred Youth. It brought along some nostalgia as she remembered her time before she left for college. Right... College. That's the entire reason she was gone from home for two years, before she ended up dropping out. Should probably leave this room before she ends up feeling too guilty.  
Mae made her way down the stairs into the second floor, spotting a framed photo of her and her parents from years ago. She couldn't help but smile as she looked at the little child version of herself stood in between her mom and dad. "I was so cute then. We were all so cute then," Mae thought aloud. "We could have a travelling show. The Cute Borowskis." With that, she continued on downstairs to the first floor. As she descended, she heard a soft-spoken feminine voice call out to her.  
"Honey?"  
"Yeah?" Mae responded to her mother.  
"Come see me in the kitchen before you leave!"  
"Okay!" The younger cat made her way into the kitchen, which was a straight shot from the living room. Candy, Mae's sweet mother, sat next to a table with a book in her hands as Mae hopped up to sit on the counter. It was obvious that Mae had more of her mom's traits, with the older one having similarly dark blue, almost black fur and red eyes. "Hi mom!"  
"Welcome home, sweetie!" the mother greeted happily.  
"Thanks for not changing the locks."  
"Sorry we mixed up the day you were coming back. It was such short notice!"  
"It's okay, mom."  
"Mae, honey?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Is everything okay?" Candy asked with a good hint of concern in her tone.  
"What do you mean?"  
"Honey, did something happen?"  
"I just needed to come home," Mae answered, opting to not tell about what caused her to make such a decision.  
"Well sweetie, I think you can understand my worry. That's not something a college sophomore just up and does..."  
"Why does it feel like we've had this conversation before?" Mae accidentally thought aloud, realizing her mistake as Candy gave an unsure expression. "Er... Nevermind. Let's talk about this some other time, alright?"  
"Sure, honey."  
"You wouldn't happen to know where Gregg is, would you?"  
"Oh yeah! Gregg's working up in the Snack Falcon, up in Towne Centre west by the Clik Clak."  
"Oh yeah, we do have a Snack Falcon now. Think I like... Read about it or something," Mae recalled. Although, despite it being a prominent memory, she couldn't actually recalled how or why she knows this. Maybe she's psychic. "Food Donkey's closed down too, right? Geez."  
"It's a whole new world, sweetie," Candy said.  
"Yes it is."  
"Well, have a good time out there! Lots to explore, see what's changed!"  
"I will!"  
"Just watch out for all the construction."  
"Well it wouldn't be Fall in Possum Springs without loads of construction."  
"It's so festive, honey," the mother joked. Afterwards, Mae made her way outside, making another sketch in her notebook. A sketch of her mother.

With that, Mae got herself outside into the fresh autumn air, making her way from the house down towards Towne Centre, taking in the sights and talking too old acquaintences along the way. On the street next to hers, there was a short bear in a violet hoodie sitting near the door of a tall house.  
"Selmers!" Mae greeted the bear. Her name was Selma Ann Forrester, but 'Selmers' was just a fun nickname that Mae had made for her. There was also 'Smellmers' but the bear wasn't as fond of that one.  
"What are you doing home?" Selma questioned.  
"Dropped out," Mae informed flatly.  
"Huh. So, like, you just don't go back?"  
"Pretty much."  
"Weird."  
The two of them talked a few moments before Mae headed off, only to spot another bear that was familiar to her. A blue-furred, bigger male bear on a porch.  
"Hey, Mr. Chazokov!"  
"Hello, Mae! My best worst student!" the bigger one greeted with a slight yet noticeable Russian or Slavic accent. Mae used to be in Mr. Chazokov's astrology class in high school.  
"Haha, yeah. Liked the constellations. Hated school."  
"Hey, don't knock school. School is vital for your future! What are you doing back in Possum Springs?"  
"... I dropped out of school," Mae awkwardly told him.  
"Oh. Well, if you're still interested in constellations, come by my roof down the hill later this week. Should have my new telescope set up by then!" The bear offered.  
"Sure thing!" Mae accepted with a smile.

Mae continued on through town towards her destination, crossing into the eastern edge of Towne Centre. There was a set of stairs leading up to the church hill, but the top was blocked off due to damages caused by a storm days prior. At least, that's what Mae assumed. "My god. What kind of weather did I miss??" the cat pondered. "Oh well, wasn't going to church anyways." Even if it meant she couldn't go visit her mother at work. Candy worked at the Church of First Coalescence, Possum Springs' only religious establishment. Mae was a mixed bag in terms of religion - One could say she believed in God, but didn't care much about worshipping them. One thing she could definitely say she believed in was ghosts.  
She went back down the steps onto the sidewalk, going further along Centre Avenue. As she neared the war memorial statue situated next to the street, a dark grey mouse teenager in a dark hoodie and light grey shirt spotted her. "Hey, killer," the mouse spoke in the smoothest tone she could muster as Mae got close.  
Mae's expression turned sour. "Ugh. Don't call me that. Who are you?" she inquired. "Wait, wait, don't tell me. You're..." The feline could swear she's seen this girl before. With a focused expression, she tried recalling her name. Something with an L...  
"... Lori M.?" the mouse answered with her head tilted.  
"Right, right. How do you even know about the whole 'killer' thing?"  
"It was a big deal, even to us middle schoolers."  
"Yeah, well, that was a long time ago."  
"Why did you do it?" Lori asked.  
"I don't know."  
"Our mothers told us not to talk to you, cause no one knew when you would do it again."  
"Well, say hi to your mom for me. She sounds lovely."  
"Oh, she's gone," the mouse replied.  
"Oh. Sorry. Yeesh..." After that awkward exchange, Mae continued her way towards the Snack Falcon.

Surprise, and a dash of excitement, hit the fox behind the Snack Falcon counter as Mae entered the small convenience store. "Oh. My. God," he spoke.  
"Hey Gregg," Mae casually greeted.  
"What are you doing here?" Gregg questioned.  
"I'm back!"  
A joyous smile could be seen on the fox. "Like, back as in today?"  
"Back as in back," the feline answered.  
"Too bad you didn't die at college," Gregg said.  
"Too bad you didn't catch a flesh-eating disease," Mae returned.  
"Too bad you didn't join a murdercult."  
"Too bad you didn't-- wait what?"  
"Wha?" the fox asked.  
"Uhh... Nothing. Just got a chill up my spine for some reason."  
"Huh. Well, anyways, it's so good to see you again!" Gregg admitted, his arms flailing up and down with his elation. "Aaaagh!!" he cheered in his energetic joy.  
"How's Angus? You too still a thing?" Mae asked.  
"Hold on!" the fox said before turning away from the counter and heading off.  
"What are you doing?"  
"Changing the music!" Gregg answered before the tune playing over the intercom changed. Then the fox got back to Mae in front of the counter. "What?"  
"Angus!" Mae repeated her last point.  
"What are you doing here??"  
"I live here!"  
"Since when!?!"  
"Last night? 11 or so?" That bird in the station said 10:45, and the drive home was about 10 minutes. Close enough.  
"That's amazing!! Come to band practice!"  
"Oh my god! The band is still a thing?"  
"Sure!" Gregg answered with a shrug.  
"When's practice?"  
"Now!"  
"Really? When do you get off work?"  
"Now!" the fox said with another quick shrug.  
"Really?" Mae asked with a smile before Gregg made a rush for the door. Another elated yell came from him as he got outside.

Mae, Gregg and the big bear man in a green suit jacket Angus found themselves in the abandoned and unused Party Barn building, with the stage all to themselves. "Hi Angus!" Mae waved to the bear.  
"Hey, it's you," Angus replied, with the cat slightly able to see herself in the reflection of the bear's round glasses.  
"It's Mae!!" Gregg cheered.  
"It's Mae!" Angus repeated.  
"Aaaaagh!!!" the fox flailed his arms in excitement before heading to the backstage area.  
"So, the Party Barn went out, huh?" Mae asked to the on-stage bear.  
"Yeah. Not sure how it ever stayed in business." Angus had a low tone, truly sounding like a soft-natured bear person.  
"Like, how many parties are there really?"  
"You need a lot of parties to keep a barn running."  
Suddenly, Gregg called out from backstage, "I have your old bass!"  
"My old bass, huh? I think I sorta remember, actually..." Mae said as someone else approached from behind her. A tall blue crocodile clad in a black jacket and an ankh necklace.  
"Hey Bea. Uh, Mae's back," Angus greeted as Mae looked back to see the croc.  
Bea was the last person that Mae was expecting to see at band practice of all times. Since when was Bea part of the band? "Wow. Hi," was all that the cat could get out in her surprise.  
"Yeah. Hi," the croc returned. She sounded tired, low, stoic... Edgy, for lack of a better word.  
"She's totally back!!" The low tone of Bea's voice was heavily contrasted with Gregg's high energy as he called out to her.  
"Wait, what?" Bea asked.  
"Are you, uh... Here for band practice?" Mae inquired.  
"I play drums," the croc answered. Mae's eyes darted between Bea and the small laptop that was situated on a basket on-stage where there would normally be a drumset.  
"That's not drums. That's computer," the cat corrected.  
"It's fine, she also does your bass parts," Angus piped in.  
"Well, I understood them as the bass parts. But I can turn them off," Bea offered.  
"'Turn them off.' On your computer," Mae snarked.  
"Mae, we're gonna play this new song we wrote, Die Anywhere Else! You totally have to play bass!" Gregg called out.

'Die Anywhere Else'... That's a new song? Mae oddly felt like she's played a song called that on bass before. In fact, looking at the sheet for it... Yeah, she's played this! When her mind was fixated on thinking of when she did so. Regardless, as the band played their parts - Angus singing, Gregg playing the guitar and Bea having the percussion play from her laptop, Bea almost flawlessly played her bass throughout the song.  
When it was all said and done, the band looked toward Mae in surprise. "Um. That was pretty much... Perfect," Gregg admitted  
"Uh, woah," Bea commented.  
"Yeah," Angus added.  
Mae gave a slightly cheeky smile. "All in a day's work."  
"That was great, man. Like just seeing you back, playing my old horrible bass," the fox said.  
"Okay, are we doing this diner thing?" Bea questioned.  
"Yeeaaaah!!" Mae cheered in response.  
"Wooooooo!!!" Gregg joined her.  
"Yay," Angus responded calmly.  
"Hip hip," the croc said with a tiny eye roll. As the band headed out, Mae sketched onto another page. It was a drawing of herself on the bass with a caption of 'Die Anywhere Else'.

The old Clik Clak diner. Nothing fancy, but it had a cozy atmosphere to it. The four of them sat around a freshly cooked pepperoni pizza.  
"Hell yeah. Did you miss pizza, Mae?" Gregg asked.  
"They had pizza at school," Mae told him.  
"Oh cool."  
The four of them each grabbed a slice of the pizza. The pizza itself was... serviceable, at least. Gregg put the crust of his slice back on the plate.  
"This pizza isn't great," Angus admitted.  
"It's pretty horrible," Bea added.  
"Dudes, haven't you ever heard of the Pizza Scale?" Gregg spoke up.  
"The what?" Mae asked.  
"There's a scale of pizza. On one end, there's the worst pizza, but everything above that is still really good," the fox explained.  
"What's at the other end of the scale?" Bea questioned.  
"It's pizza all the way up."  
"Pizza good," Mae said with a light shrug.  
The four of them grabbed another slice, with Gregg adding a second piece of crust to the plate.  
"I mean, it's no Pastabilities," Bea said.  
"Mmm... I missed Pastabilities," Mae recalled. "I am not touching those crusts."  
"Saaaaaame," Gregg replied.

"We should've gone to Pastabilites," the cat admitted.  
"The diner has ambience!" Gregg responded.  
"The seats are comfy," Angus added.  
"The food is terrible but, it's got charm," Bea said.  
"You too fancy for the diner now?" the fox asked Mae.  
"Guys. Please. I was raised in this diner," the feline claimed proudly.  
"You and like a zillion rats," Bea joked in reply.

Mae leaned back a bit in her seat, feeling pretty full up with that pizza. "So, when are we gonna play out?" she asked the rest of the group.  
"Tch. Mae, we don't play out," Bea told her.  
"Oh." That kind of squandered the cat's idea of being a musician.  
"We have jobs, Mae."  
"I work at the Video Outpost 'Too'," Angus said.  
"I'm at the Ol Pickaxe," Bea informed.  
"Isn't that your dad's store?" Mae wondered.  
"Sure is," the croc replied.  
Suddenly, Gregg flailed one arm with his hand smacking against the table. "I'm the lord of the Snack Falcons!" he proclaimed.  
It was just then that something suddenly crossed Mae's mind. In addition to Bea being in the band and hanging out with them, there was someone missing from this group. "Where's Casey?"  
An awkward silence fell on the group for a second. "Oh yeah, you wouldn't know, huh?" Gregg spoke up. "He's gone."  
"Gone? Gone how?" Mae questioned.  
"Hopped a train I bet."  
"Oh wow. He always talked about doing that."  
"Yeah, one day he was just gone."  
"Made a clean break. Hasn't emailed or anything," Angus added.  
"Well, good for him I guess," Mae concided.  
"His parents put up missing person posters, but everyone knew what happened," Gregg explained.  
"Geez. Casey, I..." Admittedly, Mae had a strange feeling of unease. "Huh..."  
"Mmhmm. And what exactly do you do, Mae?" Bea changed the topic.  
"I was in college?" the cat answered.  
Bea squinted her eyes slightly. "And why exactly are you not still there?" she asked.  
"Didn't work out."  
"Huh. Imagine that." Geez. That just felt insulting more than anything.  
"... Well! We better get home, dude," Angus said to Gregg.  
"Oh yeah, Angus got a date with sword people online," Gregg explained.  
"Aw, lucky," Mae replied.

Back outside in front of the diner, Mae stretched her limbs. "It's really great to be back," she said.  
"Dude, we can hang out every day!" Gregg replied excitedly.  
It was at that moment that Angus spotted something on the sidewalk in front of them, causing him to recoil slightly. "Oh my god."  
"Holy crap." Bea noticed the object too.  
"What?" Mae asked.  
"Is that an arm?" Angus asked.  
"That's an arm," Bea responded. The brown-furred arm laid there motionless, with a green sleeve covering most of it.  
Gregg suddenly moved in front of the group with a hand up. "Nobody move," he instructed. "Let's poke it with a stick."  
"I call first!" Mae piped up, picking up a twig from the ground and walking up to the arm.  
"Mae, this is like, tampering with evidence," Angus spoke up.  
"Ugh. Am I going to have to start worrying about getting dismembered on my way home?" Bea groaned.  
"Ssh. I wanna watch this," Gregg shushed, watching closely.  
"You don't need your ears to watch," the croc replied.  
"Sssshh!"  
Mae carefully held the stick up near the arm. Poke. Poke. Poke.  
...  
Pokepokepokepokepokepokepoke.  
Without much restraint, Mae began rapidly poking the arm with the twig as fast as her own arm could move. After a while, Mae managed to accidentally roll up the sleeve with her rapid jabbing, revealing a black rectangular marking on the forearm. "Woah, what's that?" she wondered.  
"Some kind of mark," Gregg guessed.  
"What?"  
"I think you just sluethed out a clue, dude."  
"Oh for eff's sake you two," Bea rolled her eyes.  
"Here come the cops," Angus warned.  
Suddenly, they all heard the voice of a female feline officer call out to them, "Now what's going on here!"  
"Uh oh!!" Gregg jumped back as the group look toward Molly.

"Hey Aunt Molly. We found an arm," Mae informed.  
"Alright Mae, put the stick down and step away from the arm," her aunt instructed.  
"Alright, alright! Don't taser me or anything," the younger cat asked as she took a step away from the severed arm.  
"No promises."  
"Oh well, I think it's time for Angus and I to get home," Gregg said. "See you tomorrow, Mae!"  
"Alright, I don't want any of you walking home alone tonight," Molly spoke up. "Buddy system. Something bad's going on."  
"I can drive Mae home, officer," Bea said.  
"Thank you, Bea," the older cat replied.  
"Yeah, thanks Bea! Let's roll," Mae spoke.

Bea's car was... Old, to say the least. Had to be something 80s at the latest. The engine was rather loud, and without any radio on, Mae and Bea were only accompanied by the constant low rumble of the engine.  
"So..." Mae wanted to break this awkward quiet, "Working at the Ol Pickaxe?"  
"Yep," Bea replied.  
"Are they training you to take over the family business?"  
"They?"  
"Um... Your parents?" Mae asked, then her mind snapped to something. "Er, wait..." One of Bea's parents had, much unfortunately, passed away. Which one was it again? 'Oh god, Mae, think!' her mind yelled at her.  
Bea didn't seem too amused. With a screech, the car's brakes made the car stop then and there. "Oh look we're here."  
"Oh, uh, my house actually isn't for a few blocks," Mae replied, knowing in the back of her mind that she was being kicked out for her dumb mistake.  
"Get out."  
"Okay. Uh... Thanks for the ride."  
"Go," the croc said sharply.

After a short walk from where she was dropped off, Mae made it back to her home, seeing her father on the couch. "Hey kitten," Stan greeted his daughter, who returned a playful 'Rowr'. "Listen Mae, I'm sorry about last night. I really thought you were coming home tonight."  
"It's okay I guess..." Mae replied.  
"You know me. With the bad memory."  
"Yeah, I remember. I mean, you do pretty well."  
"Yeah, I remember to eat and breathe," Stan joked.  
"You're really good at, like, remembering how to walk."  
"I'm a champ."  
"Tell you what," Mae proposed, "Let's pretend I did come home tonight, and we just got back from the bus station."  
"Start over?" the father asked.  
"Yeah."  
"Okay."  
"Hey dad," Mae greeted as if this was the first time she's seen him in two years.  
"Hey Mae," Stan returned the greeting.  
"Thanks for picking me up."  
"Welcome home, Mae."  
"I'm gonna go to bed I think."  
"Well, you've had a big day. Goodnight, kitten."

With that, Mae headed upstairs up into her attic-bedroom. She could sleep now, but... "Could play some bass," she thought aloud, eyeing the bass in the corner of the room. "Screw it. It's been a while since I've played Space Dragon," she decided as she picked up the instrument, quietly singing out some lyrics. "Wanderer in spaaaaaace... Nomad of forbidden plaaaaaace..." Afterwards, she began strumming out the bassline of a low and slow metal song. It was a Witch Dagger song, with such band being known as a doom metal artist, and it showed in the bassline alone. Her eyes were closed the entire time she played, and only opened when she was done with the song. "Um, that was pretty much perfect," she thought aloud as she placed the bass back down. She pulled her notebook out and drew a space dragon... Or, tried to. After multiple failed attempts, she simply wrote out 'How the hell do you draw a space dragon?'  
With that out of the way, the feline hopped onto her bed, kicking her boots off and getting comfy before falling into a peaceful slumber.


	3. Angus the Hacker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mae attempts to sate her need for online media consumption, only to discover that her laptop is infested with adware. Time to locate Angus.

Mae awoke in her sunlit room, sitting up with and lightly scratching her behind before getting up and fitting her boots on. She then unpacked something that had been sitting under her bed for some time now, her old laptop. She laid it on the bed and opened it. "Wow. It's literally been 36 hours since I was last online," the cat realized as she booted the laptop up. "This shall not stand!"  
... Although, when the laptop got past the boot sequence, Mae was met with several windows displaying messages along the line of 'Burly singles in your area,' or 'Hot chat live right now.' It was all accompanied by several portraits of various ladies, some of them showing very little in the way of modesty. The influx of processes opening just to display these windows was causing the entire system to run slowly. "Aaagh! No! What is wrong with you?" the cat freaked at the sight. "Damnit. I bet Angus knows how to fix this. He's all computery, I think. But I can't... Let him see this..." she mumbled. "Where does he work again? Feel like I should remember that..."  
Well, it seemed like Mae had an objective for the day. She headed downstairs to the first floor, going past the living room and into the kitchen where Candy sat. Mae hopped up onto the counter. "Morning mom," the younger one greeted.  
"Nope, I'm mom 24 hours a day!" Candy joked.  
"Har har har," Mae sarcastically laughed.  
"Also it's 4 PM sweetie," the mother pointed out.  
"Well, I'm off to find Angus."  
"Oh, is he your little friend Gregg's boyfriend? Big guy? Kinda quiet?"  
"Yeah, that's him. I need him to fix my laptop."  
"Well he better, sweetie. You can't afford to buy a new one."  
"Wait, do you even know Angus?"  
"Do you?"  
"Mom, we're in a band together," Mae pointed out. "Sorta."  
"Oh, is the band back together??" Candy asked, seeming excited about the prospect of that.  
"Yeah! We practiced last night! ... Pretty sure we're not gonna play out though. Well, I'm off to find Angus."  
"Have a good time, daughter!"  
"Thanks, 24 hour mom."  
"Seven days a week."

Mae would be outside for a total of a second before her attention was drawn to a much older bluish grey crocodile man. "Hey! You kid!" the croc called out.  
"Adult," Mae corrected.  
"So you're back, eh?"  
"Yes, Mr. Penderson."  
"Didn't last long, eh?"  
"No, Mr. Penderson," Mae answered in a low tone.  
"You get a job yet?"  
"Yes. I've been elected mayor. And I've ordered your house to be bulldozed," the cat joked.  
"What? Finishing the job you started?" Penderson recalled.  
"I hope you enjoy living in the woods!"  
"Those eggs took the paint off the vinyl siding."  
"Scavenge food! Commune with the beasts, Mr. Penderson!"  
"Watch yourself, lil miss," the croc warned.  
"Lil. Effing. Miss?"  
"No one's forgotten who you are and what you did, you know. They may act like they have, but that's just small town polite right there."  
"Is that what this is?" Mae questioned about this conversation.  
"Small town polite's all you got, kid. So watch it."  
"Well that was really interesting, but I need to go listen to my cells die."  
"Pah!" Penderson voiced.  
"Pah!" Mae mocked before heading on her own way.

After having a quick conversation with her neighbor Selma, Mae continued onward into the eastern edge of Towne Centre. She realized that she never went down into the trolley tunnel station, where the old foodstand was. She could go for a nice pretzel right about now. Heading into the tunnel entrance, she walked down the flight of steps until she was in front of the Trolleyside News foodstand where a middle-aged dog man was preparing a batch of pierogis. "Hey, I just got back in town a few days ago." the cat spoke up, "And the one thing I missed most was-"  
"Hey! I remember you!" the canine cook inside replied.  
"Hello!" Mae waved.  
"Thief!"  
"Oh come on," the cat sighed. "That was years ago!"  
"Once a thief, always a thief."  
"Alright, you know what? This isn't even a restaurant!" Mae argued. "It's a crappy foodstand in a hole!"  
"This establishment has been in business for 50 years!" the cook retorted.  
"50 crappy years in a hole. You know what else has been in a hole for 50 years?" Mae asked. "Dead people from the 60s!" she finished with her hands up in the air.  
"No respect! No respect, this one!"  
"You can keep your hole pretzels. And your damp pierogis."  
"Yeah yeah. Go jump in the river."  
As Mae turned away to head back up to the surface, she glanced at the current of water that ran through the rails. There wasn't always a river in the trolley tunnel, but ever since the big flood hit the town a few years ago, the tunnel system was basically waterlogged, and now a river runs through it. It looked kinda pretty, though.

Back on the surface, Mae continued her way westward until she came across the Video Outpost "Too". That's right, Angus worked here. He literally mentioned that yesterday. Duh.  
"...Too?" Mae pondered aloud. "Is that like 'two'? Or like 'also? This is an error so bad even I wouldn't make it." With a shrug, she opened the front door of the video store and walked in. Only, instead of Angus, she was met with a female deer behind the counter.  
"Can I help you?" the deer politely asked.  
Well, unless she could fix a laptop. Mae was needing Angus at the moment. She could've sworn Angus said he worked here... "I don't think so." she awkwardly answered before heading out. Looking further down the street, she saw the Snack Falcon past Pastabilities and the 1063 apartment building. Gregg will likely know where Angus is.

With that in mind, Mae made her way down to the convenience store and was immediately met with Gregg behind the counter, wearing Snack Falcon cups over his ears.  
"Hey Mae," Gregg greeted. "Got cups on my ears."  
"Why?" the cat asked.  
"I was thinking about how they have beaches in Bright Harbor. And then I was thinking about the ocean. And then I put cups on my ears, and it sounds like the ocean," the fox explained.  
"Wow dude, you took me on a journey. Speaking of, uh... Nothing I guess... Do you know where I could find Angus?"  
"At work! At the video store. What do you want Angus for?"  
"Got computer problems. Figured he might know a thing or two."  
"He's a hacker."  
"Really?"  
"I'm pretty sure he hacks."  
"Cool, dude! I'll catch you later."  
"Definitely! I'm so glad you're back!" Gregg responded with an earnest grin. But, Mae didn't head out immediately, giving the fox time to bring something up. "So, that arm, huh?"  
"Geez, yeah. What the hell," Mae replied.  
"What do you think happened?"  
"I dunno. I mean, how does an arm end up on the sidewalk? In Possum Springs?"  
"I mean kinda cool, but creepy? And two doors down from our apartment too."  
"Oh yeah, you live in Towny Centry now. Think you told me that or something."  
"... I don't remember telling you that," Gregg pondered.  
"Oh, huh. Anyways, I'm gonna go find Angus," the cat said before heading out.

Okay, well, it was obvious that Angus was not at work at the video store. Or if he was, he was probably in the back or something. Mae headed back into the video store where the deer was standing.  
"Hey, uh, you wouldn't happen to know where Angus is, would you?" Mae asked.  
"He works dayshift?" the cashier answered.  
"It is day?"  
"I got here early?"  
"Wait. Why does everything you say sound like a question?" Mae asked.  
"You do the same thing? I just didn't comment on it?"   
"Really?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Huh?"  
... Well that was awkward. Seemed like Angus was at home in that case. With this new information, Mae left the video store and entered the apartment building directly nextdoors. In the lobby, there was an elevator with call buttons and a door leading to a staircase. The feline walked up to the elevator and lifted her hand to press the call button for Gregg and Angus' room, only... The button was missing. Um... How was she supposed to... Hm.

"... Wait why the hell am I pondering this so hard?" Mae suddenly thought aloud before looking at the staircase door. It'd be a climb, but at least she could avoid potentially electrocuting herself by trying to use a broken call button. When she got to the floor where Gregg and Angus' apartment was, she knocked on the door and waited until the door was opened by Angus.  
"Oh, hey Mae," the bear sounded like he wasn't expecting to see her here of all places. "Uh, come right in."  
"Hey dude," Mae waved as she entered the living room of the apartment.  
"Uh... Welcome to our apartment. I could've been in my underwear," Angus pointed out.  
"Hey dude, don't wear pants on my account."  
"Gregg's at work if you're looking for him," Angus said, thinking that the cat would much rather spend time with the fox than him.  
"Actually, I was looking for you. My laptop was messed up and I thought-"  
"What's wrong with it?"  
"Lots of things pop up when I turn it on."  
"What kinds of things?"  
Mae glanced off to the side. "You know. Things. About things. Not for kids things," the cat explained, not wanting to outright say 'porn.'  
"Why didn't you bring it with you?"  
"I forgot it," Mae lied.  
"Mmhmm. Y'know Mae, you don't, like, have to be embarrassed about-"  
"I'm not."  
"I mean, everyone-"  
"I know."  
"Hm. Let me see what I can do," the bear said before setting off for the bedroom. Mae simply stood around for the few minutes it took for Angus to work out a solution to her adware issue. "Okay, I got something for you," Angus called out as Mae entered the bedroom. The bear handed over a small green USB flash drive. "Plug this into any USB port and restart. Should clear you right up. Might delete some of your old files though."  
"Wow, thanks dude!" Mae replied with a smile.  
"No problem."  
"Goooonna head on home. See if your magic works."  
"It's not magic. It's just ones and zeroes. And we're just atoms, and our perception of reality is just chemical reactions. Take those away and poof. There goes the universe."  
"..." It might have been Mae's super nerdy dormmate or someone, but Mae could've sworn she's heard that exact saying somewhere before. "Woah."  
"Sorry."  
"I'm gonna go," the cat excused herself, heading out of the apartment.

Home again. Again. Being in this quaint little house always brought some comfort to little Mae. "Hey dadders," Mae greeted.  
"Why if it isn't the mayor of Possum Springs herself," her father joked. Seemed like he heard about the conversation with Mr. Penderson earlier. "What did you get up to today?"  
"Hung out with Angus for a bit. You remember him?"  
"Oh yeah! I like Angus. He's smart. In the old days I used to work with his dad. I know they fell on hard times when we all got laid off. I used to see him at the bar..."  
"Yeah."  
"After I stopped drinking I didn't see him as much. I wonder how he is."  
After staying to watch some Garbo & Malloy with the older feline, Mae made her way up to her room, fishing the flash drive from her pocket. "Let's see if this Angus fix works. Can't get any worse at least. I suppose it could be on fire?" She leaned over to the laptop, plugging the drive in and rebooting it.  
Thankfully, the laptop booted as normal, displaying her Donut Wolf background and her Chattrbox message shortcuts. "Oh my god it's fixed!" she cheered. After a moment, she recieved a ping from Angus, who must've spotted her come online.  
 _Angus: I guess it turned out okay then? Your computer?_  
 _Mae: Yeah it did thanks!!!!!_  
 _Angus: I put something else on that drive! You remember Demontower?_  
 _Mae: Oh wow, yeah I used to play that all the time like 10 years ago._  
 _Angus: I've been playing again. They've kept updating it. You can grab your old save file from their server and start right where you left off._  
 _Mae: Ooooh cool!_  
 _Angus: You should check it out and we can talk Demontower sometime. It's really cool still!_  
 _Mae: I am def doing this!!!! Aw thanks Angus!!!!_  
 _Angus: *tips hat*_  
And afterwards, she got a ping from Gregg  
 _Gregg: Hey! You get that porn off your laptop???? I heard you broke it with soooo much porn._  
 _Mae: Dude you know it._  
 _Gregg: Rick Rekkage told me that before the internet they'd hide porn in a hollow log in the woods._  
 _Mae: Yeah that was a thing, right?_  
 _Gregg: Be awkward if you were hiking out to the porn, and some dude was already there and your like 'sup dude. I guess we're both here for the porn.'_  
 _Mae: I bet that happened. You know it did. I bet they became friends._  
 _Gregg: PornLogBros4Ever._  
 _Gregg: So dude you're coming to the party tomorrow night right?????_  
 _Mae: What party??_  
 _Gregg: In the state forest! Lots of people home from school and stuff this weekend. Cool people, the big fire, the snakcs, the beers._  
 _Mae: Did you mean to write snacks or snakes?_  
 _Gregg: Both dude. Both. Cool well you should ask Bea to drive us._  
 _Mae: What no I don't think she likes me._  
 _Gregg: Naw dude she's cool. She drives us all the time and lets us borrow her car. Stop by her store and ask her okay pleeeeeeease????_  
 _Mae: Okay fine._  
 _Gregg: YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!_

After that, Mae closed her Chattrbox window. She could go to sleep now... Orrrr she could play Demontower for the next hour before drowsiness would take its toll on her and make her save before closing the laptop and getting comfy on her bed. Nothing made a girl like her happier than a good night's sleep.


	4. Possum Springs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mae asks Bea to drive the group to the state forest party, and gets home to get ready with a long, hard look in the mirror.

The sunlight radiated warmly into Mae's room as she woke up, feeling as fresh as a cabbage roll in the local market. After getting up and fitting her boots on, she opened her laptop to see if there were any incoming messages. There was a ping from her chat with Gregg.  
_Gregg: Oh btw Bea works at the Ol Pickax so you can go there. Get some tools LOL. Big axe and go on a rampage LOL._  
Mae chuckled lightly. She figured that the fox was already at work, so no use in shooting a response. With that, she walked downstairs to the first floor and into the kitchen, hopping up onto the counter. She felt like she's done this dozens of times recently, even though she's only been home for about three days now. "Morning, mom!" she greeted.  
"All day mom. Every day mom," Candy replied. "So what are you up to today?"  
"Gregg and Angus and Bea are going to a party, and I was thinking of going out with them."  
"A party, huh? Look at you! Back two days and already the social butterfly," her mother said excitedly.  
"I'm a little nervous," Mae admitted.  
"Oh you'll be fine, sweetie! Get out there and mingle!"  
"Actually I think it's going to be mostly old highschool people."  
"I wonder if Cole will be there? I always thought you two were so cute together..."  
"Mom. No." Oh boy, Cole. Mae had hooked up with a smooth-spoken raccoon guy in highschool, but eventually things didn't work out between them.  
"Oh sorry honey, I didn't know that was still a sensitive subject."  
"It's not," Mae dismissed.  
"Okay, well you go out there and have a good time, honey."  
"I will! See you later!" With that, Mae made her way out to the front door.

Possum Springs had a certain air to it. The air was certainly a tad cleaner ever since a lot of the factories closed down, at the very least. Mae made her way over towards Towne Centre, but stopped along the way to have a chat with her bear neighbor Selma.  
"So what are you up to these days?" Mae inquired.  
"Um. Crashing here until I get back to my own place," Selma answered. "Parents rented half the place out to Mr. Chazokov. I been babysitting, interviewed at the Ham Panther. Waiting to hear back."  
"Ohhhh! My dad works at Ham Panther now," the cat pointed out.  
"They got everything!"  
It was just then that Mae's cat ears picked up on something behind her as she turned up the street, catching four people in various formal attire. A red bird, a yellow fox, a dark blue bear and a lighter blue alligator. They seemed to be arguing about something.  
"... And if we don't start getting business here, there isn't going to be a Possum Springs!" The bird exclaimed.  
Ugh. Business talk. Boring. Mae decided it'd just be best to just walk on past without much care about the conversation.

Into Towne Centre. The church hill steps and power line were still being worked on, no going up there today. Whatever, Mae had her eyes on the prize; The Ol Pickaxe. But before she continued onward, her eyes suddenly caught the tiny news stand next to the trolley tunnel entrance. In it, there was a missing person poster, with a monochrome portrait of a male cat with black eyes and a few diagonal lines along his forehead.  
_CASEY HARTLEY (19) of Possum Springs. Last seen at dusk on June 27th walking westward along the tracks behind the former Food Donkey. He was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, jeans and black canvas shoes. If you have any information on the location of CASEY HARTLEY at any time since his last known sighting, PLEASE contact the Possum Springs Police Department immediately._  
Mae's ears drooped at the sight. She was hoping that her friend was alright and had just made a clean break... But suddenly, her chest tightened as a feeling of dread washed over her. Her breathing quickened for a moment as she attempted to calm herself down. What was going on?? Was this like a full anxiety attack or something? Her eyes likely seemed like they were stapled open wide as she panted.  
"Uhh, miss?" She suddenly heard a slightly familiar, younger-sounding voice call out to her. She turned to see that Lori kid she met a couple days ago. "You, uh... alright?" the mouse asked cautiously.  
Seeing Lori was a good distraction to help Mae calm down. "U-Umm... Yeah? Yeah, I'm okay."  
"You have panic attacks, too, huh?" Lori inquired. "You're not about to like, beat someone down again, are you?"  
"Ugh. No, I'm not," the cat replied with an annoyed expression. This was really weird, though. It wasn't normal for her to just have an anxiety attack like that. "I'm uh, just gonna be on my way."  
"Okay then. See ya," Lori waved off as Mae made her way further along the street, soon entering the Ol Pickaxe.

Upon opening the door, she saw Bea conversing with an older, earthy-orange cat man in a green plad shirt. "Yeah Bill, write it up as on the clock," the croc told.  
"She's not gonna like that," Bill replied.  
"I don't care if she doesn't like it. It was her fault. Plain and simple. That is time extra, we charge for that." Geez, Bea sounded quite authorative here. Was she the manager or something?  
"Alright then!" Bill responded, heading away. Now Mae had Bea all to herself here as she walked up to the counter.  
"Hey, Bea!" Mae greeted.  
"Hi."  
"How's work?"  
"Stressful. End of the month coming up, and I have to order in winter stuff. Which means I have to bribe one or hopefully two of the guys to unload the trucks, because I am not carrying in a truckload of rock salt by myself," Bea told the cat.  
"Huh."  
"What do you want?"  
An axe. To go on a rampage with, duh. "Gregg asked me to ask you if you would drive us to the party tonight? You know, the one up in state park?" Mae asked.  
"Thanks for clarifying. Otherwise I might have been confused as to which of the _dozens of parties going down at any given night in Possum Springs_ you were referring to."  
Mae squinted her eyes. "... Are you being sarcastic?"  
"I'll drive," Bea stated.  
"Great! Thanks!"  
"We'll be by your house at 8:30. Be ready or we'll go without you."  
"Okay!"  
"Don't get lost on your way home."  
"I know where I live."  
"No seriously, go home and get ready."  
"Alright, alright! Geez."

As Mae exited the Ol Pickaxe, she shuffled her journal out again, sketching the crocodile and writing out 'Beatrice Santello' in the best cursive she could get out, with an added 'MAEBEA' at the bottom of the page. It fit well with the sketch of Gregg on the opposite page, labelled 'GREGG RULZ OK'. Now, Bea did make it sound like Mae needed to hurry home, but... She still had a few hours. She at least wanted to go see Gregg and Angus before hurrying back. With that, she quickly made her way into the Video Outpost "Too", where Angus was standing behind the counter.  
"Hey, Mae!" Angus greeted. "How's the laptop running?"  
"Really good! Thanks so much!" Mae replied happily.  
"Glad to be of service."  
"So, like..." the cat started.  
"Yeah?"  
"Who rents movies anymore?" she asked.  
"More people than you'd think. Older people who don't know any better. Kids who for some reason can't get something."  
"Do you ever want to tell them?"  
"What, about the internet? About rental by mail?"  
"Yeah."  
"Mae, it's not my job to save them. I am paid to stand here, assist when needed, take their money and not judge them."  
Mae decided to change the topic. "So, this party tonight, huh?" she brought up.  
"Yeah. Should be fun?"  
"I hadn't pegged you as a party person."  
"I'm not really. But parties with Gregg are different."  
"How so?"  
"You know how you just want to go stand in a corner sometimes?" the bear started.  
"Yeah."  
"Gregg's my corner."  
"Awwww," Mae smiled.  
"Haha shut up."

Mae got back outside, internally 'awwww'-ing after that comment from Angus. It was just too adorable for her. She made her way over the Snack Falcon, seeing Gregg behind the counter as she entered.  
"Party party partyyyyy!" Gregg cheered.  
"Geez dude. You are excited for this party," Mae replied.  
"You're gonna be there! That's awesome! God, what a great week it's been. You're home!!!" the fox exclaimed, his arms flailing in excitement.  
"I'm home!" Mae showed her enthusiasm by throwing her hands in the air as Gregg kept his arms moving.  
"... My arms are tired!" Gregg said, stopping his flailing and allowing his arms to rest.  
"I'm gonna head on home and get ready. I'll see you at the party, dude," the feline waved off.  
"See ya!"

Well, no need to waste any more time. The cat took a shortcut through the trolley tunnel, emerging on the other side at the eastern end of Towne Centre as she made her way home. But then she spotted her aunt near her house. Oh boy...  
"Hey, Mae," Molly greeted.  
"What?"  
"I was just stopping by to see how you were doing."  
Okay...? "Why?"  
"After the other night I mean."  
"Why wouldn't I be fine?" Mae wondered.  
"Mae, a lot of the things that happen around here - Sometimes in town, sometimes out by the tracks, sometimes up in the hills..."  
"... What?"  
"It's my job to make sure folks like you never see something like what you saw the other night."  
"'Folks like you'?"  
"You're a kid, Mae. And you're naive. And in its own stupid way, that's beautiful. But the world is not. And the world isn't out there somewhere, it's here."  
W-What? "Alright, are you gonna arrest me or something? Cause I have a party to go to." Mae pestered.  
"Watch yourself, Mae. I'd really hate to see something happen to you. And being in the wrong place at the wrong time is all it takes," Molly told. "That's all I'm saying."  
Mae's eyes shifted slightly. It really felt like Aunt Mall-Cop was trying to warn her of something. "That's ominous."  
"Goodnight, Mae," Molly said before walking off. Mae suddenly got a chill up her spine before stepping into her cozy home.

Both her mom and dad were in the kitchen as she entered.  
"Hey sweetie!" Candy greeted happily.  
"Look who's home," Stan stated.  
"Hey, the parents," Mae casually replied.  
"I made tacos," Candy said.  
"Excuse me, we made tacos," Stan corrected.  
"Tacos?" Mae asked.  
"Tacos!" her mother answered. If there was one true way to get to Mae's heart, it was with a good taco. Her favorite meals were a neck-and-neck tie between homemade tacos and Pastabilities pizza, although the latter was considerably less healthy.  
"Do you want tacos?" her dad inquired.  
"I want tacos. All day. Every day," the younger one answered in earnest.  
"The family that tacos together rockos together," Stan said.  
...  
"Honey, no," Candy said.  
"What?"  
"I am so angry right now," Mae commented.  
"You've all turned against me," Stan spoke.  
"Mae honey, do you want sour cream on your taco?" the mother asked.  
"I. Want. _Everything._ " Mae answered.

8 o'clock. Time to get ready. "Ok ok ok. It's go time," she thought aloud before glancing at her laptop. She had a bit of time to chat, get some party talk going.  
Mae: OMG party time. Are you ready Bea?  
Bea: I'm ready. Are *you* ready?  
Mae: Oh. Maybe I should get ready.  
Bea: Yeah. Maybe.  
She then checked the ping she got from Gregg.  
Gregg: Hey don't forget about the party tonight!  
Mae: I haven't!  
Gregg: Then what are you doing on your laptop?? Get ready already!  
Mae: Geez! OK!  
Gregg: :D  
The cat turned the laptop off for now before looking down at herself. "Ugh, should probably make sure I don't look like a cave beast." With that, she looked over to the mirror in front of her bed. "Looking alright. This ain't my first rodeo," she spoke as she looked at her reflection. She roughly remembered going to a party in that forest before, maybe it right before she left for college. "... I have the worst face. I have a nightmare face. My nightmare eyes..." she uttered. "Nightmare eyes would be a great title for a horror movie. You'll see the nightmare eyes outside your window... And you'll know..." she monologued, her pupils shrinking. She sighed as her expression went back to normal.  
"You can do this. People like you," the feline told herself. But, she felt as though people didn't like her. Clearly they didn't, after all. "Just because that online test said that your best chance at being happy is a situation where everyone already likes you, but they mostly leave you alone, except when they're delivering food to you... That doesn't mean you can hide in your room and wait for that to happen. That's how hermits are made, Mae, and they die along in the middle of winter. Waiting for pizza from friends they don't want to see."  
"Who cares if Cole is there?" Mae's expression turned sour, annoyed. "Jerk. He's probably up at school somewhere. Taking classes, being all successful. Probably doesn't even think about me. Which is good cause I honestly don't care. But I hope to any god that is listening that he isn't there. Please Whatevergod, make sure Cole isn't there tonight." For someone who 'doesn't care', Mae sure seemed to want her ex to not be present. "... My breath tastes like tacos. This is a disaster." She changed the topic of her monologue. "Alright, what are you gonna say? You're a smooth talker. You're a smoothie."  
She imitated a wave with a forced smile. "Hi, I'm Mae! I dropped out of college earlier this week! And now I'm in the woods! Drinking!" she proclaimed with her hands in the air. "... This is hopeless." She frowned, feeling a general sense of shame. "Wheel me out to the curb for garbage day." Her attention was suddenly taken by the time. "Oh geez, they'll be here any minute. Good luck kid," she told herself before a smug smile came to her. "I don't need luck. I make my own luck. With a luck machine."

With that, she made her way downstairs and outside, just in time to see Bea's car rolling up.


	5. Nightmare Eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At the forest party, Mae ends up having one or two many drinks to build up the courage to talk to her highschool boyfriend Cole.

Bea's car was ever-so-slightly cramped with Mae, Bea, Gregg and Angus all in there. Mae sat in the front seat besides Bea while the two guys sat in the back. They all made their way from the town and into the state park in the woods.  
"Hey Mae, I think Cole might be there tonight," Gregg spoke up.  
"Yeah I know," Mae responded with a rather sour look.  
"Geez! Sorry."  
"I don't care if he's there." That was a complete lie.  
"He might not be," Angus said.  
"Well, let's hope so or not. I don't even know what we're talking about," Bea commented.  
"Mae and Cole went out in junior year," Gregg informed.  
"Yeah, and it didn't work out," Mae added. "So let's stop talking about it."  
Bea agreed with a simple "Let's," as she continued driving out toward the party.

The party was less exciting than Mae was honestly anticipating. It was mostly just people standing in secluded pairs or groups talking amoungst themselves in the woods. The dark nighttime forest was illuminated only by a raging campfire, and the only source of music was some crocodile dude playing his guitar by himself. At least there was a dispenser for beer. The cat filled a cup halfway with light yellow beer and downed it right there. It was rather unsavory for her as she put the empty cup down. "Ugh..." Truth was, Mae hated the taste of beer, but she was hoping that getting a buzz going could help her be more socialable. "I dunno if I should have another drink right now," she thought aloud, heading away from the table that the dispenser was situated on. It was then that she spotted a raccoon guy with glasses and a dark jacket near the campfire. 'Oh god, it's...' she thought to herself. Seemed like her prayers to Whatevergod had gone unanswered as Cole stood there, seemingly unaware of her presense. Shaking her head quickly, she made her way up the hill where Gregg and Angus were.  
"Yo, did you see Cole's here?" Gregg asked.  
"Oh god..." Mae's eyes widened.  
"... You okay?" Angus spoke up.  
"Yeah! Totally fine," the cat answered.  
"You gonna talk to him?" Gregg asked.  
No. Well actually, why not? Mae can't just cower in the dark from him forever. "Yeah sure."  
"Yeah, man!" the fox cheered.  
"You sure, Mae?" Angus asked cautiously.  
"Yeah! I mean why should I be weird about it?" Mae reasoned.  
"Well you did right that song afterwards. What was it called?" Gregg brought up.  
"Go Get Dead, Angel Face?" Angus recalled. This immediately sent a shiver all the way up Mae's spine.  
"Uuuuuuugh," the feline groaned. "We do not talk about Go Get Dead, Angel Face."

Alright, just gotta go and talk to Cole.  
... Riiight after having another beer. She didn't really have the confidence to start a conversation, so a buzz might be her cure. She made her way over to the dispenser and poured herself another cup before drinking it then and there. She put the cup down with a sigh. "I guess beer is just one of those horrible things adults do, like doing taxes and having babies," she supposed. Whatever, time to chat up with Cole. She approached the raccoon near the campfire and started with a casual "Heyyyy."  
"Mae? Is that you?" Cole seemed surprised to see her here. "Wow. How are you?"  
"Hi, I'm Mae! How's it going?" Mae asked with a slight slur to her voice. Weelllll crap.  
"I just asked you that?" the raccoon questioned with a raised brow. "I mean, I'm fine. Just back visiting for the weekend."  
"Really? That's fascinating!" the cat cooed. She couldn't put her finger on it, but she remembered having a similar conversation with someone and was now trying to change up what she said. But it couldn't have been with Cole, this was the first time they met since junior year.  
"I guess. I think that's the first time in a while someone has called my life fascinating," Cole replied.  
"That is so true! Well, see you later!" Mae said awkwardly.  
"Okay..."  
This awkward talk was starting to get to the buzzed cat's nerves. "What the hell is your problem?"  
"What?"  
Okay, this was a mistake. More drunkeness needed, obviously.

Mae awkwardly made her way back to the table. She poured another cup... Before pouring another one right next to it. She held both cups in her hands, raising them up. "Screw it, I'm doing two beers!" she declared before pouring the contents of one cup down her gullet and slamming the cup down. "I'm doing beer! I still taste tacos! Okay!?"  
"What?" Bea asked from the side, hearing her shouting. She was with a goat lady with glasses and black horns.  
"Nothing!" the cat answered. Though, hearing Bea gave her the idea to walk over to the croc with a slightly uneven gate. "Hey Bea."  
"Yeah?" Bea answered before noticing Mae's uneven stance. "Oh god. You're drunk, already."  
"That's why we came out here, right??" Mae asked with a definite slur in her voice.  
"Not really. I have to drive. And even if I didn't..." the croc started.  
"Well I don't have my license! So WOOHOO for meee!!" the cat cheered.  
"Who is that?" the goat suddenly asked Bea.  
"Remember Mae Borowski?" Bea responded.  
"Oh god..." was the goat's only answer.  
"Mae, you're drunk, you need to go chill by the fire," the croc instructed.  
"I'm gonna go run around naked in the wooooods!!!" Mae declared, grabbing at the bottom of her shirt and starting to pull up.  
Bea quickly snatched Mae's hand to stop the cat from doing what she was doing. "Go. Sit. Now."  
Bea's sharp tone convinced Mae to go over to the campfire and sit passively on a stump. Cole noticed Mae sitting nearby and decided to go over and start a conversation. What could go wrong? "Hey Mae," he started.  
"Hey Cooole-io," the cat greeted.  
"Wow. Haven't heard that in forever."  
"Iz been like three years! Thaz not long at all!" Mae's speech was starting to get quite slurred.  
"... Well, it was good to see you. I'm just back from school for a couple days and-"  
"Shut up already," Mae snapped.  
Cole was perplexed. "What?"  
"I was like so worried you were gonna be here!"  
"Oh."  
"I prayed to Whatevergod!!!"  
"W-What?"  
"I figured someone would listen, but no! Here you are! The girl at the video store is all like 'Woowoo! Cute boys!!' And you're a cute boy, Cole," the cat rambled on.  
Cole was even more perplexed. Going from 'Shut up' to 'You're cute' within a few sentences is a surefire way to confuse someone. "Oh! Thanks Mae, I-"  
"But I hate cute people! Cute is the worst!"  
"Okay, well I'm gonna go..." the raccoon tried to escape from this odd conversation before Mae suddenly jumped up and stood on the stump she had been sitting on.  
"And iz not my fault I'm a total trashfire!!" Mae shouted. At this point, she was starting to gain an audience as Gregg, Angus and Bea came closer, and the eyes of the other partygoers were drawn to her. "I have nightmare eyes! And the lazt thing you see is my eyes outside the window," she suddenly threw her hands up into the air, "And then I ztab you with my knife! Stab stab STAAAAB!! BOOM! DEAD! And when the police get to you, you're all like N i g h t m a r e E y e s!!" she finished with a low, whispery tone.  
"New nickname!" Gregg called from the side.  
"So don't eff with me, kid! I've seen horrors beyond your wildest nightmares!" Mae shouted.  
"Okay Mae, you're threatening people now," Bea warned.  
"I'm gonna get in shape and beat all of your asses!" Mae declared. "I'm gonna eat everyone! Everyone I see!! And breath fire while I'm at it!"  
"Okay, Mae, you need to-" the croc started.  
"Eff college!" the feline yelled. "All those rich kids and hot people, all writing sex and having papers with each other!"  
"Close enough!" Angus said.  
"And that damn statue, pointing at me every day. Suppose to be the founder," Mae mocked, "But just shapes. I... I'm a total trash mammal! And nothing is ever going to work out! We're just gonna relive our failures again, and again, and a-*hic*-gain!" she finally stopped to catch her breath. "I... I'm home again. And I can do something besides sleep, and cry alone." The cat burped, feeling queasy. "Because things aren't just things here, y'know?" Her queasy feeling intensified into full-on nausea as her stomach churned. "Oh god. I'm so... Sick... To... Death..." she turned directly towards Cole. "Does that make sense, Cole-io?"  
"Mae, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I think you're a really great-" Cole started.  
"HOME AGAIN!!!" Mae cheered without warning.  
"Wooo!" Gregg joined in.  
"Waaaughghh!!" the cat suddenly hunched over and before she knew it, the tacos she had for dinner beforehand were suddenly on the ground in front of her in a mushy mess. The taste of tacos and beer ran rampant in her mouth. "Tacos."

"If you puke in this car, so help me..."  
Mae sat slumped over in the passanger seat of Bea's car. It was clear that Bea was quite annoyed at the cat.  
"I'm sory I don't even knowhat happened," Mae apologized, trying her best to talk normally.  
"You got sloppy-ass drunk after what, three cups of watered down beer?"  
"We uzsda be bess friens B-Be ea and I stillove yu B ee."  
"I didn't get a word of that."  
"Remmmemmmber yu used to call me Maaaaydaaaay, and I called you Beeeebeee?" Mae brought up.  
"Oh, you mean when we were like 10? No, I don't."  
"Remmbr when we were scouts together, and we caught that tuuuurdle?"  
"Yeah. Boxy the Turtle. He died."  
"WHYOO SO MADAME ALLATIME???" the drunken cat demanded before a quick burp came out. "Awman if I puke inheer your parentz are gonna be so madat me... Tell yourmom I'm sorry okay she's so niiiiice..."  
Bea's grip on the steering wheel tightened at least tenfold. "Goddamnit, Mae."  
"Whaa?"  
"My mother is dead," the croc informed coldly.  
"WHAAA?"  
"She died of cancer. Senior year."  
"Ohhhnooo she was so niiiice!" Mae cried. "Beebee are you okayyy??"  
"How do you not know this? What, did you forget about my dead mom?"  
"Awe Bee I'm actin likea jerk. Are you madat me??"  
"What happened to you? You used to be smart! You used to be cool! You used to be worth talking to!"  
Mae sniffed, her eyes starting to water.  
"Why did you even come back?" Bea asked. "Oh, did college not work out for you? Was it inconvenient? Were you not in the mood?" She only got another sniffle in response. "I would have killed for that. I still would. I would kick you out of this moving car right now, if it meant I could go to college."  
The drunken feline couldn't hold it back anymore as she started wailing like a kid. Thankfully, Bea had already pulled up to the Borowski residence to drop Mae off.  
"We're here. Get the hell out of my car," Bea said, but was only met with more crying. "Oh god... Let me help you in."

After awkwardly dragging the drunk cat into the house, exchanging a quick hello with Stan in the living room, Bea got Mae up into her attic room and onto the bed. "There you go."  
"I'm sorry, Bea. I'm such a mess..." Mae mumbled.  
"You know? Whatever. It's not your fault. You're just a kid."  
"I'm older than you! Two months!" the cat argued.  
"Yeah well, I stayed here and got older, while you went off and stayed the same." Bea wasn't sure what response she was expecting, but it wasn't light snoring as Mae had already drifted to sleep. The croc sighed. "G'night, Mayday," she said before heading downstairs and out of the house.

...  
"I've been here before."  
Mae found herself in a strange land. Her voice as she thought aloud echoed around her. Strange, neon blues and violets all around, a baseball bat in hand, and the neon sight reading 'Durkillesburg'. She... very vaguely recognized it, but couldn't remember why. It didn't feel real, but it also didn't feel like a dream. This was starting to sramble her mind. Maybe she could try sketching this in her journal to get a better grasp on it... Except her pocket was empty. It was just her and her bat as she made her way uphill until she found some kind of strange statue made of metal formed into various shapes, and it pointed down at her. Filled with an innate urge to destroy, she rushed over to the statue and began slamming the bat against the metal, breaking it piece by piece, until it became a heap of broken parts. And now... She found herself alone...


End file.
